The heart of the matter....
is the matter of the heart.
That's been a series that Dr. Benton has been preaching since this past September at church. It's been a good one because he's taken the characters from I Samuel and approached their actions from heart motives. I have greatly benefited from listening to these sermons and thinking of ways that I can apply them.
Yesterday was the classic text in I Samuel, from chapter 16, where Samuel anoints David as King. As Dr. Benton was explaining and applying the text, something clicked. During his application, he pointed out that many times we follow the standards of our culture to base our opinions on people, looks, money, etc, but God's not interested in that, it's the heart. He knows our hearts.
What hit me in that was sobering because I do a good job at keeping the external appearances of a guy who's got it all together. I dress right for whatever occasion it may be, I'm married to an awesome Godly woman, we go to a good church in an affluent neighborhood, I'm in seminary, and I work as a chaplain intern at an affluent retirement center where I counsel and preach and do all the outward things that make me look good. But all those externalities mean nothing to God, if my heart is focused on me and pleasing myself and making myself look good on the outside.
That's been a series that Dr. Benton has been preaching since this past September at church. It's been a good one because he's taken the characters from I Samuel and approached their actions from heart motives. I have greatly benefited from listening to these sermons and thinking of ways that I can apply them.
Yesterday was the classic text in I Samuel, from chapter 16, where Samuel anoints David as King. As Dr. Benton was explaining and applying the text, something clicked. During his application, he pointed out that many times we follow the standards of our culture to base our opinions on people, looks, money, etc, but God's not interested in that, it's the heart. He knows our hearts.
What hit me in that was sobering because I do a good job at keeping the external appearances of a guy who's got it all together. I dress right for whatever occasion it may be, I'm married to an awesome Godly woman, we go to a good church in an affluent neighborhood, I'm in seminary, and I work as a chaplain intern at an affluent retirement center where I counsel and preach and do all the outward things that make me look good. But all those externalities mean nothing to God, if my heart is focused on me and pleasing myself and making myself look good on the outside.
posted by Bobby's blog at 12:46 PM
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